Aside

This CV was made by using Nick Strayer’s datadrivencv R package, and built in R blogdown


View this CV online with links at bpacton.com/vitae/

Contact

R Skills

Main

Bryan Acton

I am fascinated by adopting novel statistical and programming techniques for studying complex system dynamics including leadership in teams. This includes designing simulations using agent-based models to generate data describing complex systems, using predictive models to better understand complex data, and communicating data-driven insights from web applications made in Shiny.

Education

Ph.D, Industrial/Organizational Psychology

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Blacksburg, VA

2020 - 2016

  • Dissertation: Using Agent-Based Modeling to Test and Integrate Process-Oriented Perspectives of Leadership Emergence
  • Summa Cum Laude
  • “Favorite Faculty Award” (Student Services)

M.S., Psychology

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Blacksburg, VA

2016 - 2014

  • Thesis: Working in Harmony: The Impact of Personality on the Short- and Long-Run Dynamics of Team Cohesion

B.A., Psychology

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts

North Adams, MA

2013 - 2009

  • Honors Program
  • Summa Cum Laude

Research Experience

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Durham University Business School

Durham, UK

Current - 2020

  • Working on multiple projects including a lead on a project investigating identity invention dynamics in college students in the UK. Developed entire script in R for measuring identity dynamics using dynamical systems perspective developed by Dr. Steven Bolker and colleagues.
  • Taught multiple R workshops to faculty and staff across multiple subjects such as text transcription and basic data wrangling.
  • Have multiple publications and book chapters either out for review or in preparation with submission in the coming months. Also working on putting together new funding proposal with Army Research Institute with Dr. Robert Lord and colleagues on using predictive modeling to assess memory processing in items used in leadership scales.

Lab Coordinator and Graduate Research Assistant

Interface of Leadership and Teams Lab (PI: Dr. Roseanne Foti)

Virginia Tech

2019 - 2016

  • Worked with team of faculty, as only Graduate Assistant for Army Research Institute Basic Research Grant Titled: Episodic and Semantic Memory Effects on Leadership Measurement and Prediction of Leadership Outcomes. Also was ILT lab coordinator for two years.
  • Led data collection across three different studies, two using online sampling (N > 3000), and one in-lab study with army corps of cadets (N > 250).
  • Designed multiple tools for both data collection and data analysis, including a python program to code linguistic features of leadership items, random forest models (using R) for predicting memory processing of leadership judgements, and an experimental procedure using PsychoPy.

As a part of my role as lab coordinator for two years in the ILT lab, I have directly mentored more than 5+ undergraduates. I am excited to share that 5 of these students continued onto masters programs, and two continued onto doctoral programs.

Publications

Acton, Braun, & Foti (2020) was awarded an annual “Editors Commendation” award for notable papers of the year

Acton, B. P., Braun, M. T., & Foti, R. J. (2020). Built for unity: Assessing the impact of team composition on team cohesion trajectories. Journal of Business and Psychology, 35(6), 751–766. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-019-09654-7
Acton, B. P., Foti, R. J., Lord, R. G., & Gladfelter, J. A. (2019). Putting emergence back in leadership emergence: A dynamic, multilevel, process-oriented framework. The Leadership Quarterly, 30(1), 145–164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2018.07.002
Hansbrough, T. K., Lord, R. G., Schyns, B., Foti, R. J., Liden, R. C., & Acton, B. P. (2020). Do you remember? Rater memory systems and leadership measurement. The Leadership Quarterly, 101455. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2020.101455

Teaching Experience

Power and Status (PSYC 42115)

Durham University, Psychology Masters Program

Durham, UK

2021 - 2021

  • Taught two separate 3-hour lectures. The first was an Intro to leadership lecture and the second was an inclusive leadership lecture.
  • Graduate level class with Masters students taught via Zoom

Social Psychology (PSYC 2048)

Virginia Tech, Psychology Department

Blacksburg, VA

2017 - 2016

  • Instructor of record across 4 classes
  • Consistently above both college and departmental averages in ratings of teaching effectiveness

Industry Experience

Advisor on Implementation Science Committee

Promote Care Prevent Harm

https://promotecarepreventharm.org/advisors

Present - 2021

  • Lead developer on shiny application used to collect data and assess development of self-regulation in schools

Summer Graduate Assistant

Office of the Provost

Virginia Tech

2017 - 2017

  • Assisted in creating evaluation tool for University’s “new faculty grant”
  • Co Authored article published in special issue of journal of society of women engineers

Professional Graduate Assistant

University Office of Professional Development (UOPD)

Virginia Tech

2016 - 2015

  • Designed/distributed questionnaires for UOPD’s professional development programs using Qualtrics
  • Shadowed/assisted various speakers during UOPD’s organizational development workshops




Blogs Written (About)

Introduction to R blog with resources

bpacton.com

N/A

2021

A system for taking integrated reading notes via zotero, zettlr, and R markdown

bpacton.com

N/A

2021

The purpose of agent based modeling to study collectives and a minimal example

bpacton.com

N/A

2020



Workshops Taught

Transcribing text and initial text analysis using R

Durham University Centre for Leadership & Followership

N/A

8/2021

  • Taught 2-hour long workshop to smaller group of faculty and graduate students
  • Covered how to use “TranscribeR” package and “tidytext” package in R to analyze text data

Introduction to the Tidyverse and data analysis in R

Virginia Tech ILT Lab

N/A

2/2021

  • Taught 1.5 hour long workshop to a small group of PhD students and undergraduates

I have my data. Now what? A tutorial on data cleaning, wrangling, and initial analysis via R

Durham University PhD Students

N/A

12/2020

  • Taught 2-hour long workshop which served as an introduction to R for social scientists to a group of 20+ PhD Students

Conference Presentations

An application and tutorial for creating within-person memory-sourced leadership scales

Speaker & Lead Author

Academy of Management Annual Conference

2021

  • Authored with Drs. Robert Lord, Tiffany Keller Hansbrough and Roseanne Foti

More than Liking: The Role of Memory Systems and Language in Leadership Ratings

Lead author on Poster

Society of Industrial Organizational Psychology Annual Conference

2021

  • Authored with Drs. Robert Lord, Tiffany Keller Hansbrough and Roseanne Foti

Assessing the Impact of Self-Identity on Organizational Outcomes Using an Implicit Measure

Speaker & Lead Author

Academy of Management Annual Conference

2020

  • Authored with Drs. Robert Lord, Tiffany Keller Hansbrough and Roseanne Foti

Capturing the Process of Cohesion Emergence Using Continuous Rating Assessments.

Author, Speaker & Organized Symposium

Society of Industrial Organizational Psychology Annual Conference

2019

  • Authored with Dr. Charles Calderwood and Zach Mastrich

Ready & Willing: Assessing Profiles of Leader/Follower Self-Schemas.

Author & Speaker

Society of Industrial Organizational Psychology Annual Conference

2019

  • Authored with Dr. Roseanne Foti

Agent-Based Modeling: Current and Future Directions in Organizational Psychology.

Co-Author on Poster

Society of Industrial Organizational Psychology Annual Conference

2019

  • Authored with Dr. Trevin Glasgow & Dr. Roseanne Foti

An Examination of Psychological Collectivism Using Item Response Theory.

Co-Author on Poster

Society of Industrial Organizational Psychology Annual Conference

2018

  • Authored with C. Du & Dr. Roseanne Foti

Putting two-and-two together: Using sociometric measures to capture cohesion emergence

Speaker & Lead Author

Society of Industrial Organizational Psychology Annual Conference

2017

  • Authored with Dr. Michael Braun

Increasing the Power to Detect Adverse Impact in Small Selection Contexts.

Co-Author on Poster

Society of Industrial Organizational Psychology Annual Conference

2017

  • Authored with Dr. Maureen McCusker, Derek Burns, Nathan Wycoff, & Dr. Neil Hauenstein

The Role of the “Mere Presence Effect” in the Development of Intra-Group Cohesion.

Lead author on Poster

Society for Personality & Social Psychology

2017

  • Authored with Drs. Yashna Shah, Danny Axsom, & Roseanne Foti

I have many more conference presentations. If you are interested in an expanded list, please email me.